Arc-V: Collection of Stories

Scarred Heart (Time Travel AU)

A blue haired boy stared at a school with word YOU SHOW DUEL SCHOOL attached to the building. His expression twisted in uncertainty. Torn between wanting to open the door and faced his demons, or run away and never look back.

In the end, his choice was made for him.

The door was opened from inside, and a pair of teenagers was about to step out, but paused when they realize someone is blocking the way.

"Oh, hello? Is there anything we can help?" the girl ask kindly, but also confused.

The blue haired boy smiled. "Y-yeah," he bite his lips with brow scrunched, as if internally berating himself for stammering, "I... I want to enlist to this school. I mean, join! Yeah... join. Can I?"

His words made the pair before him elated.

"Sure!" The boy with dual-colored hair resembling a tomato exclaimed. "Of course you can join! We're happy to welcome you!"

Without further ado, he pulls the bluenette in. Forgetting the reason why he and his group was about to do, in favor of welcoming their new member.

"Yuya! Don't be so fast!" The pink-haired girl chides. Quickly catching up with them. To the blue-haired one, "Sorry about him. He was easily excited. Oh right, I'm Yuzu. Hiiragi Yuzu. And this is—"

"Sakaki Yuya, right? I know?"

Seeing the two paused to stare at him, the blue haired boy mutter an inaudible curse.

"I mean, I have heard news about him... and there's picture of it so..."

"Uh," Yuya's expression become a little hesitated, "are you want to learn Pendulum Summoning...? If so then..."

"Ah, no. No." The blue haired boy quickly shakes his head. "I... I'm not after that, I swear. After all... I don't think Pendulum suits me."

"Oh, really?"

"Really."

There's no mistaking the relief that take over Yuya and Yuzu's face.

They have dealt with numerous people wanting to join their school, solely for Pendulum Summoning, but quickly dropped it when they realized they were "duped". Somehow making the school's rep get even worse than it already has. So to hear someone is not after the Pendulum method, that was a good news.

"Why you're choosing You Show? Not that I'm against it but, you know, curious."

Yuzu quickly hit Yuya, fearing the question would be a major turn off. "Yuya!"

"No. It's fine. I don't mind answering." She was stopped by the new student. "I like the atmosphere here. You guys looks so... free. So happy. Not that other schools are bad, but they usually have certain theme, like that one with fortune telling or cooking obsessed, which just... not my style. Then there's one that forbid usage of spell and trap, which was automatically no-no since I use those cards in my deck."

"Oh, then..."

"And I don't care about ranking. The two top Duel Schools around... no. LDS has highest tech and most advance class, but the atmosphere is not something I want to deal with. And Ryozanpaku is... no. Just, just no. I won't survive that one."

"What's wrong with Ryozanpaku?"

The blue-haired boy stopped walking as his eyes become vacant. As if recalling horrible memories.

"...you don't have to answer if you don't want to." Yuya quickly dissuade him from answering. From further goes down the no good, horrible memory lane. "And whatever happened, I can promise You Show was nothing like that! We're fun-loving school!"

It took several moments for the blue-haired boy to shakes out from his terror, signalized by the shaky, trembling smile forcibly stitched to his face.

"Th-thank you."

"So um, what's your name again? I forgot."

"...you don't forgot. I just haven't given mine." The smile turned a little more real. "Shiunin Sora. Please, just... just call me Sora."

"Alright Sora! Let's be friends!"

"...friends..."

Yuya and Yuzu would ignore how Sora's eyes become glassy. They would ask about it later, but for now, they will keep silent.

Certainly, the boy before them had go through many terrible things no one should.

(Time Travel AU

Z-ARC wins and the world is getting destroyed.

In that final moments, Sora lamenting all that happens up until that point. Blaming himself for not smart enough to realize there's something wrong with Academia's purpose. For going after Yuto that night, which kickstarting the fusion between Yuya and his counterparts. Most of all, blaming himself for betraying Yuya and Yuzu when they were nothing but kind towards him.

"If only I choose differently... maybe... maybe this would never happens..."

He got his second chance in form of Ray, who sense Sora's internal struggle as "the strongest" among the group, which doesn't amounted much but the fact it's here and give fuel was nothing but a miracle.

Sora closes his eyes, and when he opens them again, he was in Standard. A look into the calendar told him that he was back in time. At the day he arrived in Standard. After Xyz dimension had fallen, but before everything had gone to hell in handbasket.

He now has a new mission: preventing the end of the world. This time, he will choose correctly. This time, he would choose his friends over a moron who didn't know what grieving and letting go means.

It would be easier if his PTSD and guilt didn't drown him so badly he has flashback at every single goddamned day.)